An architecture for user preference-based IoT service selection in cloud computing using mobile devices for smart campus

The Internet of things refers to the set of objects that have identities and virtual personalities operating in smart spaces using intelligent interfaces to connect and communicate within social environments and user context. Interconnected devices communicating to each other or to other machines on the network have increased the number of services. The concepts of discovery, brokerage, selection and reliability are important in dynamic environments. These concepts have emerged as an important field distinguished from conventional distributed computing by its focus on large-scale resource sharing, delivery and innovative applications. The usage of Internet of Things technology across different service provisioning environments has increased the challenges associated with service selection and discovery. Although a set of terms can be used to express requirements for the desired service, a more detailed and specific user interface would make it easy for the users to express their requirements using high-level constructs. In order to address the challenge of service selection and discovery, we developed an architecture that enables a representation of user preferences and manipulates relevant descriptions of available services. To ensure that the key components of the architecture work, algorithms (content-based and collaborative filtering) derived from the architecture were proposed. The architecture was tested by selecting services using content-based as well as collaborative algorithms. The performances of the algorithms were evaluated using response time. Their effectiveness was evaluated using recall and precision. The results showed that the content-based recommender system is more effective than the collaborative filtering recommender system. Furthermore, the results showed that the content-based technique is more time-efficient than the collaborative filtering technique

Configuration of service oriented architectures with semantic technologies based on non-functional requirements

Ова дисертација је фокусирана на примену семантичких технологија за решавање проблема оптималне конфигурације сервисно-оријентисаних архитектура (енгл. Service Oriented Architecture – SOA) на основу нефункционалних захтева корисника. Решење је базирано на проширењу АHP алгоритма за рад са различитим врстама захтева и развоју хеуристичког приступа заснованог на генетичким алгоритмима за решавање проблема оптималне конфигурације. Постојећа решења у овој области су показала изузетно мали ниво персонализације, тј корисницима није дозвољено дефинисање разних софистициранијих врста захтева који осликавају њихове жеље, очекивања и строге захтеве за које захтевају потпуно испуњење. Такође, постојећа решења су била перманентно фокусирана на испуњење захтева функционалности, након чега се врши одабир конфигурације сходно захтевима о смањењу вредности карактеристика које имају тенденцију раста (нпр., цена и време извршавања), односно повећању вредности карактеристика које имају тенденцију опадања (нпр., поузданост и доступност). Међутим, када се посматрају целе фамилије SOA, од посебног значаја постаје проблем конструкције конфигурације при истовременом задовољењу функционалних и нефункционалних захтева. Предложено интегрално решење под називом OptConfSOAFобезбеђује представљање различитих врста захтева (безусловни, условни, захтеви о лексикографском поретку) о нефункционалним карактеристикама и оптималну конфигурацију фамилија SOA на основу дефинисаних захтева. Приступ који се предлаже обезбеђује истовремено задовољење захтева који се тичу функционалности система као и нефункционалних захтева који могу бити различитог нивоа приоритета, односити се на поједине делове или сервисно- оријентисану архитектуру у целости. Предложено решење је опште и није ограничено само на веб сервисе, иако се појам семантичких технологија обично везује за дати домен примене. Решење се може применити у било ком домену у којем се SOA парадигма може применити посматрањем сервиса као било које компоненте (необавезно софтверске) дате функционалности...This dissertation is focused on the application of semantic technologies for solving the problem of optimal configuration of service-oriented architectures (SOA) based on stakeholders’ non-functional requirements. The proposed solution is developed as an extension of the AHP algorithm to allow for processing of different kinds of requirements. To address the problem of optimal configuration of SOA, a heuristic approach based on genetic algorithms has also been proposed and validated. Existing approaches in this field have shown low level of personalization, i.e. stakeholders are neither enabled to define sophisticated requirements that reflect their own expectations and attitudes, nor they are able to indicate hard requirements that have to be fully satisfied. Furthermore, existing approaches were primarily addressing the problem of fulfilling functional requirements, while the selection of an appropriate configuration is driven by the goal of decreasing the values of monotonically decreasing features (e.g., price and execution time) and simultaneous increasing the values of monotonically increasing features (e.g., availability and reliability). By considering the whole SOA families, the problem of configuration based on both functional and nonfunctional requirements gets special importance for research and further applications. The proposed solution, titled OptConfSOAF provides a framework for specification and processing of different kinds of requirements (unconditional, conditional, and requirements about lexicographical order) over non-functional features, and further optimal configuration of SOA families. The proposed approach provides simultaneous fulfillment of functional requirements (i.e., requirements related to the system’s functionalities) and non-functional requirements, where the latter could be defined with different level of importance, for specific parts of a SOA-based system or the system in its entirety. The proposed solution is general and is not bound to web services, even though semantic technologies are often associated with that domain. Since the solution considers a service as a component (no mandatory to be software component) with the specified functionality, it is applicable and easily adaptable to any specific application domain where SOA paradigm may be applied..

Entwurf und Modellierung einer universellen Telearbeitsumgebung auf Basis einer serviceorientierten Architektur

Teleworking is the key to a more flexible design of working time and places of work. To reach the flexibility for working anywhere and anytime a virtual working environment is needed which is reached from any place having a browser and internet access, at home, on the road or in the office. The goal of our activities is to develop a set of technologies fitting in the web architecture in order to bring teleworking applications to their full potential. Our new concept is to combine different web services in a new integrated man-machine environment that enables access to all necessary services. So it will be easier for the teleworker to handle the different applications and techniques. The teleworking portal provides them access to various resources: office applications, multimedia objects and documents, communication tools such as email and conferences, collaboration and group work systems or educational software and training tools. In order to promote interoperability and extensibility among these applications, as well as to allow them to be combined to perform more complex operations, a standard reference architecture for such services is needed. Consequently our approach is based on the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the web service technology.Telearbeit ist der Schlüssel zu einer flexibleren Arbeitsplatz- und Arbeitszeitgestaltung und eröffnet vielfältige Möglichkeiten und ökonomische Potentiale. Nach zahlreichen Kontroversen über die Vor- und Nachteile haben vor allem die Entwicklung kostengünstiger Informations- und Kommunikationstechniken, aber auch der Handlungsdruck einer zunehmend globalisierten Wirtschaft das Thema Telearbeit in den letzten Jahren neu belebt. Im Rahmen vorangegangener Projekte wurden vielfältige Forschungen zum Thema Telearbeit durchgeführt. Bei der bisherigen Umsetzung von Telearbeit in der Praxis ergaben sich vor allem Probleme im Umgang mit den verschiedenen Arbeitsumgebungen im Büro und am Telearbeitsplatz und dem Abgleich der Arbeitsstände und -ergebnisse. Ziel der Arbeit ist die prototypische Entwicklung einer webbasierten, flexiblen und modular aufgebauten Arbeitsumgebung, die eine effektive Anpassung an die Arbeitsweise des jeweiligen Telearbeiters und Unternehmens ermöglicht. Dabei wurde neben der Definition und Anforderungsanalyse von Telearbeit ein Architekturmodell für eine integrierte Arbeitsumgebung entworfen. Durch die umgesetzte Bausteinarchitektur wird eine flexible Anpassung der Umgebung an die Bedürfnisse der Telearbeiter und der Unternehmen erreicht. Weiterhin werden im Rahmen der Arbeit existierende Ansätze zur Unterstützung von Telearbeit analysiert und klassifiziert, um die eigene Arbeit abzugrenzen. Zur praktischen Umsetzung des Konzeptes wurden vorhandene internetbasierte Protokolle auf ihre Nutzbarkeit für Telearbeitsumgebungen untersucht. Als sehr gut geeignete und innovative Technologien erwiesen sich die Web Services. Deshalb werden die Basisprotokolle und grundlegenden Technologien für Web-Service-Lösungen im Rahmen der Arbeit spezifiziert und auf ihre Nutzbarkeit im Telearbeitskontext untersucht. Abschließend erfolgte eine prototypische Umsetzung der vorgeschlagenen Lösung und eine Validierung in verschiedenen Anwendungsszenarien, um die Praxistauglichkeit des Konzeptes nachweisen zu können

A semantically-enriched quality governance framework in the system of systems context applied to cancer care

Organisations are becoming more complex with diverse businesses, and therefore accomplishing their business objectives entails the need to develop System of Systems (SoS) with new capabilities based on existing monolithic systems of different domains. Regardless of the business objectives of these organisations, they can only be achieved if the right level of quality is ensured across the SoS arrangement. In order to deliver new SoS capabilities, interoperability between the SoS’s Constituent Systems (CSs) is required. Semantic inconsistencies at different levels of SoS’s constituent systems causes various challenges which can degrade the level of quality governance among the SoS arrangement. These inconsistencies mainly are due to the domain process’ heterogeneities, multiple standards followed, policies and varying levels of quality requirements of the CSs, and hence the level of interoperability affecting the anticipated quality.To respond to the above challenges, this research is aimed at investigating the effectiveness of semantically-enriched quality governance in relation to policies, processes, standards and quality requirements of the constituent systems in a SoS arrangement. For this purpose, a semantically enriched framework for the quality governance of SoS, i.e. OntoSoS.QM.Gov (Ontology-based System of Systems Quality Management Governance) has been developed and evaluated incrementally using an adaptation of the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM). A sufficient and representative case study has been utilised in the DSRM process increments from the SoS cancer care domain, in particular, the Cell Therapy and Applied Genomics (CTAG) at the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC), Jordan. The OntoSoS.QM.Gov framework consists of four ontological models: (i) the SoS standards ontology model (OntoSoS.Stand), (ii) the SoS quality requirements ontology model (OntoSoS.QR), (iii) the SoS process ontology model (OntoSoS.Process), and (iv) the SoS policies ontology model (OntoSoS.Policy). They are linked together using a fit-for-purpose governance process in managing the semantics of the relevant quality governance areas.The outcomes of demonstrating the OntoSoS.QM.Gov framework using the CTAG case study and evaluating it with the cancer care domain experts revealed the following. First, semantic heterogeneities between CSs and SoS in relation to their policies, processes, quality requirements and standards have been resolved. Second, the fit- for- purpose quality governance process was observed to mostly determining and resolving conflicts with minimum human intervention. Third, the adequacy of the four ontological governance models in capturing the semantics of governance in relation to policies, processes, quality requirements and standards not only for CSs but also as stand-alone models that may further be utilised in different contexts or domains.Finally, this research has to identify further research areas to explore in relation to the governance of change management of constituent systems’ processes, policies, standards where their business processes change